A Lifestyle Blog

The Worst Flats & The Best Sneakers

I’ve come to appreciate flat shoes for running around town, strolling through the mall, and chasing kids around the park. I started my flats collection a little over a month ago by splurging on a pair of Chanel Ballerina Flats in light pink (seen here, and here.) These flats were damn perfect. They didn’t hurt my bunions (from years of having flat feet), and even though they were patent leather, after one round of blisters I never got blisters again.

Being excited about my new found flat obsession, a very clever friend gave me a pair of J Jill flats that he had received from a woman who didn’t want them anymore (I should have taken this as a bad sign, but I accepted anyways because they were super cute). The first time I wore them was for a quick trip to Target, and they bothered me a little bit, but I chocked it up to recently breaking in my Chanel flats. I wore them once again for a blog post (Anthropologie Wrap Top), and experienced no issues. Granted, after taking pictures I did slip in to denim shorts and my Chanel flats for running errands around town (see that outfit on Instagram).

It wasn’t until I decided to wear them to the mall that I realized just how bad they were! After walking around for 5 minutes they starting to rubbing insane blisters on the backs of my heels and on all three outer toes! I thought maybe some band-aids would do the trick, but I was wrong. After another 5 minutes of walking I started rubbing new blisters on the bottom of my feet! Never in my life have I gotten blisters on the bottom of my feet, so I figured it was a sign (and a good opportunity) to get some new, very comfy, shoes.

I headed in my favorite shoe spot (Nordstrom of course) and started trying to figure out what to do. I knew I didn’t want to buy anything I practically already had at home, and I also needed to buy something that was so comfortable that it wouldn’t hurt my existing/newly forming blisters. I probably tried on 4 booties, 3 pairs of sneakers, 2 pairs of flats, and one loafer (all thanks to the amazing sales associate) before I found the perfect shoes. They were the Nike Juvenate (the Cole Hann perforated sneaker was a close second, but they just didn’t offer enough arch support).

About the Nike Juvenate: this sneaker is literally like a giant sock with soles. The entire interior is the same as the exterior – mesh and amazing-ness. With 9 blisters (an counting) I don’t even have to wear socks with these babies because they are so gentle.

So in conclusion: J Jill’s d’orsay flat is the absolute worst flat for my feet, and Nike’s Juvenate is the absolute best.
XOXO,